I must be in over my head. I say this because I’ve decided to do my own little internet challenge—a 10,000-hour writing challenge. What makes me think I’ll be able to do this? I have no fucking clue. I have a difficult time sticking to new routines.

*cough* weekly workouts *cough*

So, we’ll see how this goes.

Really, I just want to get back to writing. Writing for pleasure. Writing for myself. Writing stories. Writing poetry. Writing blog posts. Will any of it be good? Who knows. I just thought this would be a good way to get me back into writing regularly.

Another reason I am doing this is because about a year or two ago I read a book by Malcom Gladwell called Outliers. It was a great book. In it, Gladwell writes about how people who are outstanding in their field got to that level because they were able to get their reps in—their 10,000 hours in. So, here is my crack at that.

What is the math behind this? Well, if I were to write at least 1 hour a day, I’d be done in roughly 27 years. If I were to write for 3 hours a day, I’d be able to reach 10,000 hours in about 9 years. (Slightly more doable.) Regardless, I am doing this. (Plus, I’ve got some good numbers under my belt when it comes to writing, so I’d like to think that I’ll be able to get to 10,000 at the very least before I’m 40.)

What do I count as writing?

• Blog posts
• Poetry
• Short stories
• Novels
• Outlining/planning
• And editing

I know that editing may not sound like writing, but hey, there is a saying that goes “Writing is re-writing.” So, I’m counting it! Also, you might be thinking, Eric, all of these are different forms of writing. Why are you counting them towards the same 10,000 hours? To that I say, this is my challenge and I’ll do whatever I want. (Plus, I’d like to get to 10,000 hours before I die.)

With all this being said, I also have a few changes to announce.

One is that this site will become primarily a blog about my writing process. What a shocker, a writer writing about writing. Sounds gross, even to me, but I think I have some knowledge to share on the subject. Also, it’ll be a good way for me to keep track of my progress on this challenge and on some of the projects that I’m working on.  

Two, I will continue to do book reviews and post them here, but I’m thinking about moving them all to a different site in the future. I have no idea if people like my book reviews, but I have a fun time reading the books and writing about them.

So, those are the big plans I have so far. Here’s hoping that things go well for me. If someone is out there reading this, please wish me luck on this fun and exciting endeavor.